


Choices

by periwinklepromise



Series: WinterIron Week 2019 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aromantic Bucky Barnes, Aromantic Tony Stark, Aromanticism, Asexual Bucky Barnes, Asexuality, Bisexual Tony Stark, Consent, Getting Together, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting (mentioned), M/M, Platonic Soulmates, Polyamory, Queerplatonic Relationships, barista!wanda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 08:08:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19970770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/periwinklepromise/pseuds/periwinklepromise
Summary: “Oh, fuck.” Those were his soulmate's first words. At least the feeling was mutual. “Dammit.”“Yeah. Let's pretend this never happened,” Tony suggested.“Deal."





	Choices

**Author's Note:**

> I've read some soulmate AUs for this couple, and often one doesn't like the idea of soulmates, until they meet, and then it's all sunshine and roses. And like, I get it, it's fan fic. But then I saw this prompt, and I thought, "Well, why can't they start out hating soulmates, and end it still hating it, but being friends despite it?"
> 
> So! This is a soulmate AU where both characters are resistant to the idea, and also aromantic. They stay resistant to the idea, and they both stay aromantic. It was pretty fun to write! It really got away from me, lol. WinterIron is the focus of this fic by far, but the Tony/Rhodey and Bucky/Steve are present, and very complicated and murky, so I tagged um, as clearly as possible (that is, not very).
> 
> PLEASE NOTE: I will not harbor any hate speech against the aro and/or ace and/or polyam communities in the comments. Please be considerate human beings. Don't like; don't read!

Tony could see his red thread, of course. Everyone could see their soulmate lines; many stroked theirs in time of great emotions, tugged on them just to test their strength. 

The problem was that Tony hated the very idea of soulmates. For one thing, autonomy was one of his highest principles. He didn't want his choices taken away from him by some grand “design.” And for another, he didn't want that sort of relationship to begin with. 

Romance didn't interest him. It never had. 

That disinterest had been considered a sign of maturity in his youth – look, Tony Stark doesn't waste his time on girls when he could be building better tech, how respectable. Then it had been disparaged as the callous actions of a wealthy white man – look, Tony Stark doesn't care about anyone, he fucks men and women and then kicks them out of his bed, how heartless. Then they'd said it was proof he was damaged beyond repair, the ultimate irony – an engineer who couldn't repair his own machinery. 

They said a lot of things. It was Tony's policy to never believe a word. He wasn't heartless or broken; he just wasn't interested. And that stupid red string hanging from his finger was a mockery – like he wanted to be tied to another person for the rest of his life? Why not just design himself a fancy little cage? 

It wouldn't even need a door – everyone knew people didn't leave their soulmates. But Tony would rather be by himself than be shackled for life. His parents had convinced him of that long ago; maybe if his mother had left Howard, she wouldn't have died in that car accident, Howard driving, probably drunk though the coroner's report didn't mention it. Coroners could be bought. If Maria's free will had been unimpinged, she'd probably still be alive.

So when his soulmate line started glowing when he was in line to get a coffee, he did what any reasonable man would do when faced with the prospect of meeting his soulmate – he ran for the exit.

And promptly ran into a solid mass of muscle.

And then he could see the end of the thread, and his first words to his soulmate were, “Oh, fuck.”

“Oh, fuck.” Thankfully, those were his soulmate's first words too. At least the feeling was mutual. “Dammit.”

“Yeah. Let's pretend this never happened,” Tony suggested.

“Deal,” his – the guy agreed. He almost gave a hand to help Tony up, but pulled it away quickly. That was fair – it'd be easier if they didn't touch. Tony raced out of the door and didn't look back.

*

“So what'd he look like?” Rhodey asked the next day as he stole the entire topsheet. 

Tony yanked it back with a glare. “I didn't look.”

Rhodey flung himself onto Tony in disbelief. “You didn't look? You met your soulmate, and you didn't even _look_ at him?!”

“Nope. Now shove off, I need room to sleep.”

Rhodey gave him some space – and some of the topsheet – and let it drop. Until about a minute later when he grumbled, “Didn't even look.”

“Hush.”

“I just don't get it,” Rhodey reminded him, as if he could ever forget. No one ever got it. Everyone he'd ever met wanted to meet their soulmate, even Rhodey. Thankfully, Rhodey was okay with having a completely casual relationship while he waited to meet that mate – lots of people insisted on being total jerks about it, since they didn't want to “cheat” on someone they'd never met, who they may not even like, let alone love. Once Rhodey paired off, Tony was going to be alone for good.

Which was still better than being shipped off with a stranger because the almighty universe thought they'd be good together. 

“It's my life. I should be able to choose who I spend it with.” That's what he told everyone who asked; trying to explain that he never felt any interest in the feelings depicted in the soulmate stories got him no understanding and a major headache. And some major disgust if he mentioned he still liked sex; he just didn't have to buy someone dinner first to be interested.

*

When his line started glowing again, he stayed put, cursed up a storm, and let his – the guy run off on his own. Crisis averted.

*

When it glowed again, he didn't notice. He was at a club with some friends, looking for a hookup, and with all the strobe lights and beer slick and grinding bodies, he didn't notice a slim line glowing in connection.

Until he was pushed face first into a man with shoulders perfect for gripping in bed and stubble perfect for scraping his own jaw against and lips perfect for kissing over and over and over. This man needed to be in his bed last night, but a quick grope on the dancefloor could hold him off for a bit.

Then he saw the man's eyes, reflecting thin red, and Tony bit back a curse but the other guy didn't.

“Well, there goes that,” he admitted begrudgingly, before leaning close to call into the other guy's ear. “I should tell you I don't like soulmates, but you're welcome to my bed for the night.”

“I should tell you I don't like soulmates, but you're welcome to go fuck yourself in that bed,” the man responded, with an easy smile and a steely gaze as he pulled back. 

So that was a no, then. “Fair enough. Name's Tony.”

There was a moment of hesitation before he reciprocated, “Bucky.”

At least, Tony was pretty sure that's what he said. He was decent at reading lips, but Bucky was a weird name, all things considered. “So if you're not looking for a lay, do you just really like dance music, or what?”

“I just really hate my friends,” the Bucky guy turned to yell at some hunk behind him, “Who force me to come to stupid clubs when I could be at home. Reading a book. Baking. Reinventing the wheel.”

“Anything but this,” Tony nodded. An idea sparked, and he leaned in close to Bucky's ear. “I can help you get outta here, if you want.”

“What do I have to do?” 

“Take my hand!” Tony flung it out at him, dragging him through the crowds directly past the blond Bucky had glared at. When they reached actual open space, Tony noticed the ring on Bucky's middle finger. “Wait, you flag?”

Bucky tore his hand away, looking almost confused. “Wait, are you _ace_?”

There was just no way. This was totally unreal. “No, I'm aro,” he corrected in shock. “You?”

“Both.”

Well … that changed things, didn't it? Not really! But … kinda. A little. “Huh.” _Wow, Tony, very eloquent, well done._

Bucky seemed to be more clear-headed. “What's the rest of your plan?”

“Well, the rest of my plan was to pretend to sneak out for a quickie, but if your friend knows you're not into that, then that's not going to work.”

“Not so much.” Bucky shrugged. “But hey, got me out of that wreck, so I'm grateful. Buy you a drink?”

People didn't normally try to buy him drinks. Normally they tried to convince him to buy their drinks, pass over his wallet, and give them a condo in Paris. Which he could do, of course, but he wasn't _going to_. 

“That would be great, thanks.” Bucky led him to a table, half in a daze, and fixed him with a bright smile as he took his drink order and left him to guard the table.

This Bucky guy seemed nice enough. Not that that meant anything! Tony flexed his fingers against the slightly sticky table top. Tony still hated the very concept of soulmates, and still had no interest in romance. His interest in Bucky was purely sexual in nature, and also completely shelved since Bucky had made it quite clear it wasn't mutual, and wasn't ever going to be reciprocated.

Tony shrugged. Win some, lose some. Didn't have to get into a man's pants to have a drink with him. 

*

And okay, yeah, maybe one drink turned to three, turned to exchanging numbers to get more drinks at later dates.

Not that they were _date_ dates. Neither of them wanted that. And it was kind of nice, to have another person in his life who understood that. Kind of like Rhodey! But without the sex. 

Best not to think about it too hard, he decided.

*

A few dates turned into a few months. He introduced Bucky to Rhodey, who of course thought this whole thing was hilarious, and he met Steve, who was Bucky's … partner? Ish? They called it queerplatonic, not just dating not just friends, and Tony knew queer friends were better than friends who weren't, so he wasn't judging much, even if he didn't understand it very well. 

But Bucky and Steve both insisted it was different than just being best friends, and he almost saw what they meant, sometimes. They'd been friends for so long, together their whole lives, gone through everything side by side. There was a devotion there, even if it wasn't _romantic_. It was practically divine – not that he'd ever admit that last part aloud. _Devout_ atheist, that's what he was. Universe didn't know what it was doing, giving him a soulmate when he didn't want one.

“Check it out,” Bucky barely warned him as he tossed something directly at Tony's face. 

He swatted it away. “What is it?”

“It's for you, c'mon.”

Tony poked at the bundle before inspecting closer. “Hey, cotton candy lollipops! I love these things!”

“Yeah, I know, you told me. Saw some in a corner store the other day, thought of you.” Bucky shrugged and plopped himself down in the chair across from him, flicking a nod at their favorite barista Wanda for his usual – hot chocolate with all the works, who would've guessed?

Tony tossed back the last bit of his coffee and unwrapped one of the bright blue and pink lollipops. “This is a bi lollipop,” he joked before taking the first taste since he was like, twelve.

“Not gay, not straight...” Bucky drawled in accommodation.

“Bi and ace pride,” Tony finished, saluting himself with his lollipop. Wanda brought over Bucky's hot chocolate then, a colossal creation of chocolate, cream, and the cafe's signature star in scarlet sprinkles. She rolled her eyes at Tony's antics, but by this point, all of the baristas were used to them. So he saluted her too. 

“Listen, I wanted to ask you something,” Bucky admitted as she walked away, clutching at the mug.

“Okay...” Tony narrowed his eyes. Bucky looked nervous. Why did Bucky look nervous?

“Steve and I do weekly movie nights,” he started slowly, staring down at his drink. 

Tony nodded along; it was one of their queerplatonic things, like a little date night for themselves.

Bucky took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “We were wondering if you wanted to join us this week?”

“Oh, sure! Who all is coming?” Probably Steve's friends Sam and Natalia, maybe Bucky's range buddy Barton. Hell, if it was big enough, they could invite Wanda too. That wouldn't be too creepy, she and Bucky already texted sometimes – that's why he got deluxe hot chocolates instead of normal, boring ones.

“No... No one. Just you.”

“Just...” He could feel his face scrunch in confusion, but he couldn't help it. “But it's your date night.”

“Yes,” Bucky confirmed, significantly. 

But... “I don't understand,” Tony had to admit. Why would he be invited to someone else's date? Was Bucky an exhibitionist? But he didn't have sex!

“You're important to me. I want you there.” 

Oh.

Well, that was … new. 

“But you're aro.” He was sure of that, they had discussed that the first time they spoke beyond cursing and running away from each other. Bucky had said he was ace _and aro_.

“I am. So are you. And I want us to stand side by side, for the rest of our lives, without having to hold each other's hands or give each other chocolates.”

“You gave me lollipops,” Tony objected dumbly, his brain whirring. This didn't make any sense.

“That was different,” Bucky countered easily, dragging his spoon through the tower of whipped cream before him. “This feels different. I spent four years trying to convince myself that I wasn't really aromantic, that I was just pretending. I wrote it all down, this notebook of evidence to prove I was normal, that I was capable of love.”

Tony remembered scrambling for memories too, desperate to be like everyone else.

“But I am capable of love. Romance isn't the end-all, be-all, and it shouldn't have to be. Neither are soulmates. You join us, and it'll be an us. Steve isn't going anywhere. But he also doesn't like spending five dollars on a handcrafted beverage.” He tapped the spoon against the rim of his mug then dove in for more whipped cream. 

“So like. Polyamory. But for aromantics.”

Bucky beamed. “Exactly!”

“Huh.” That was … huh. 

Bucky realized he wasn't going to say anything else, so he sighed. “Come on, how many aros do you know that don't hate amatonormativity on sight?”

“That's fair. But won't people think we're, you know, _together_?” Going on dates, giving each other lollipops. Tony generally tried to avoid the appearance of romance, so people wouldn't get their hopes up about being the one to melt him. He wanted to laugh – he could imagine people would throw a fit when they thought he was cheating on Bucky with Rhodey. Or maybe the other way around. Was he really considering this?

“We will be. Just not in a way that makes sense to them. But who cares about whether people understand, anyways?” Bucky shrugged easily, like he really didn't care. But he'd had years to get used to the idea, not two and a half minutes.

“So would Steve and I...?”

“That's between you and Stevie. But nothing's required, past you not hating each other's guts. That's not ever gonna work.”

Tony nodded. That's how he and Rhodey worked, too. He and Rhodey already had a bizarre relationship, from an outside perspective. Being friends, and having sex, but nothing in the middle like romance to connect the two. Having sex was like going to get coffee for them. Fun, comfortable, something they both enjoyed, nothing to freak out about.

He and Bucky … well, why couldn't they go on coffee dates? And have movie nights, and Bucky could give Tony lollipops, and Tony could give Bucky jars of sprinkles, and maybe one day they could even move in together and things could be easy and comfortable, and yeah, maybe people wouldn't understand but who cares, and it, it wouldn't be because of some dumb red thread on their fingers or worse dumb silver rings, it would be the decisions they would make and the relationship they would _choose_ , every day.

Maybe for the rest of their lives.

“Yes.”

Bucky's brow furrowed. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, I'll go to movie night tomorrow. I'm choosing _yes_.”

Bucky's smile was so bright that Tony considered shielding his eyes as a joke. “I choose yes too.”


End file.
